


Red footprints behind

by Naji_Dragonchild



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Character Death, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Falling In Love, Fear of Death, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, M/M, Parent Deceit Sanders, Witch Hunts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21805186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naji_Dragonchild/pseuds/Naji_Dragonchild
Summary: Near the coast, hidden deep in the forest is a small village.The people living here are used to dealing with fairies and the likes but being used to something doesn't mean truly being able to deal with it.And there are a lot more dangerous creatures hiding from plain sight.Care to take a trip?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	1. I dream you're still here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Still Here by Digital Daggers
> 
> Title is from a poem by Abdur-Rehmann Qadeer

As soon as the sun disappeared behind the horizon the streets of the small village were empty.  
The people hid in their houses, behind locked doors, closed curtains and iron fences.

Because at night, especially in a full moon night like this one, the fae and mystical creatures of the forest were at their strongest.

And if a poor, stupid, little human were to stumble in on one of their revels...

Let's just say that no one would ever see them again.

He had seen humans fall for fae magic countless times in his almost 214 years. Stupid, fearless, selfless, wonderful humans with their too-short lives and will to be something greater.

Supposedly they were able to be reborn after death, but after so many years he was beginning to doubt it.  
If it were true, surely they would have been reborn by now, wouldn't they?

He had waited for so long, seen so many lives go by and still the ones he was waiting for remained dead.

He stepped out of the trees.

The village had changed over the years. It had grown, houses had been destroyed and rebuilt but some things were still the same.  
He still knew the exact path to the market place with its old well and fountain.

The fountain that could be drained by simply pulling a lever.

The fountain with a column in it's middle, full of holes to chain people to it.

The fountain which had earned the name 'Witches Fountain' for all the witches and criminals who had been burned to death in it.

It had become a familiar sight in the moonlight, but he wasn't here because of the fountain.  
He sat at its edge and waited.

After barely two minutes the shadows began to move. Slowly, carefully they moved away from the fountain.

A smile crept onto his face as a black hand reached out of the shadow, grabbing at the rocks on the ground and pulling itself further out.

An arm, a head, a second arm.

They struggled. He wanted to help but knew from experience that he couldn't. They had to pull themselves out on their own.

"Good evening," he said when the figure was visible from the hips upwards, only the legs still in the shadows.

A low humming filled the air for a moment and his companion opened all three eyes, looking at his with an intensity no one could possibly match.

"I'm sorry I could not come last month. It was the last full moon of the season, you see, and I was expected to attend."

He received another hum as response. He took it as an 'it's alright'.

For a moment they remained silent, the shadow figure leaning heavily against his leg.

"Do you even remember what you look like?", he found himself asking suddenly. It was a question he had thought about for a long time.

The shadow made a deep almost mourning sound, that seemed to come deep out of the earth. A no.

"I do," he said.

"You... You have pale skin because you spend most of your time inside, but if you do go out you get tan really fast."

He smiled at the memories of long summer days and laughter that flashed behind his closed eyes.

"You have black hair but you dye it a new colour nearly every month because you think black is boring and 'basic' and it makes you feel better and more confident."

The shadow made a happy sounding noise, that reminded him of laughter, yet could not have been further away from the laugh he remembered the boy having.  
It was a rumbling rather than the quiet snickering he missed so much.

He hated and loved these visits.

He loved them because they reminded him of old, better times and the fact that he wasn't the only one waiting.

At the same time he hated them for the bittersweetness of the memories, for the reminders that things wouldn't ever be the same again. 

Unless humans could truly be reborn.

But even if, what were the chances that they would be born here again?

How likely was it that they would even be reborn in the same century?

He continued to describe the shadow from memory, tell him about old times and what was new in the forest.  
Filled the silence with words and stories and tried not to feel the heaviness in his chest.

Only when the sky began turning pink he stopped.

"Looks like it's time for me to get going," he said, half relieved half devastated. "I promise I will be here next month, my love."

He stood up, stretching after the long period of limited movement.

"Take care of yourself."

He took the rumbling as a 'You too'.

"Of course I will."

He forced a smile on his face.

The green and the brown eye narrowed slightly in suspicion but the third one didn't seem to notice.

The first sunbeams crept over the horizon.

"Goodbye."

With that he left.

Went back to the forest, to the fairyland, which he still, after all these years couldn't think of as home.

He passed an old, too familiar house and at his feet, Forget-me-nots bloomed.


	2. Trust me, darling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is from 'Bad Liar' by Imagine Dragons.
> 
> Re-upload because I felt the last version wasn't compete.

At the edge of the village, in a small house, lived a mage.  
He was a young, clever man, gifted in the art of bringing famine, illness, good luck or true love with flowers, bones and ancient rituals. He could lie without saying a single untrue word and make you believe that you wanted more than you did, more than you could afford.  
Nobody really knew him but most of them had already bought some sort of charm or spell from him.  
They didn't know his name so they just called him Mage. 

Most people feared him. Feared the power he had, but as long as they paid him for his services and treated him fairly he didn't curse anyone.  
Well, there were those times when he got paid to do so, but he didn't consider that his fault.

Then the boy showed up.

Susanna Carpano kneeled down, placing the fresh flowers in the vase on her sisters grave. She fussed over them for a moment, making sure that they were arranged to look nice before standing up straight again.

"Your sons are a handful, you know that don't you?" she sighed.  
"Remus tried to eat my curtains yesterday. I don't know where the boy gets these ideas. I have the feeling that if I leave him out of my sight for even just one second he's going to get himself killed."

She shook her head but a fond smile played at the corners of her mouth.

She shivered at a cool breeze, wrapping her coat tighter around herself. Her gaze wandered over the trees behind the fence of the cemetery and she nearly forgot how to breathe.

Because there, between forest and cemetery, stood a small child, staring back at her.

He couldn't be older than her nephews, so about five or six years old and was dressed what looked like an old worn black dress, the strap of a bag over his shoulder.

For a moment they were both just standing there, starring, then the boy moved.

He climbed over the fence and jumped down on the other side.

At least not a fae then. 

She swallowed loudly.

"Hello?", she called hesitantly.

The boy just kept staring at her.

She ended up taking him with her. She had no intention to take care of him, not in her wildest dreams.  
Her sister's sons were more than enough for her and her father to deal with and she hadn't intended to ever have children in the first place.  
Remus and Roman were one thing, this child something entirely different.

Hours later, sitting in the middle of a raging discussion on what to do with the boy, she regretted not just leaving him there at the cemetery.

The boy himself had yet to say a single word, despite the fact that at least half of the people here, which was every adult of the village, only missing the old Ferebuck because she was too weak to even leave the house these days, had asked him what his name was, where he was from and where his parents were.

He simply didn't talk.

"We could just drive him into some town and leave him there!"

"What if he's a ghost?"

"I refuse to keep this thing here! It might be dangerous!"

Voices overlapped each other and mixed to the point where it was nearly impossible to tell who said what.

"FINE! I'LL DO IT!" the Mages voice suddenly cut through the air, effectively shutting everyone else up.

"... Do what?", Mayor Barnes asked hesitantly.

"I'll take him in," the Mage stood up and marched towards the boy.  
"Do you want to come live with me?"

Janus felt as if the boy's dark eyes were starring into his soul.  
Then he nodded.

A grin split over Janus' face: "Good, then it's settled!"

He offered his hand for the boy to take, which he did, and marched out of the town hall. 

He was greeted by cold air and a few children and teens who had been lingering in front of the building, not allowed to come in but curious about what was going on in the room behind the heavy wooden door.

They parted for him and eyed the child full of curiosity and maybe just a little bit fear.

Janus had a child to take care off now.

A small, maybe five-year-old child who had yet to say a single word, might not be human and for all he knew might not even have a name. What the hell was he even doing here?

He didn't know anything about children!

Oh god, this was why he shouldn't be in charge of anything. 

Sure, he was good at planning, at anticipating what would happen and lure people into traps with nothing but words.  
But heat of the moment decisions?

Nope. Janus was not good at those.  
Do not - under any circumstances - sign him up for them.  
He'd just end up adopting a child.

Oh, wait, he just had done that.

Well, it wasn't legal.

Could you legally adopt a child without papers and a name?

Probably not.

Yet he had.

What the hell had he been thinking? He couldn't take care of a living being! Especially not a young and impressionable one!

He remembered his mother telling him not to have children and if he insisted that he needed one to wait till he was at least forty.

He was barely 17.

Mother would be so disappointed in him if she could see him now.

Gay single father of a possibly magical child at the age of 17.

Fuck this shit.

He had barely noticed that they had left the market place behind when they arrived in front of the old wooden house.  
The boy took it in and seemed fascinated by the stone snake resting on the porch railing.

"Her name is Wilhemine", Janus told the boy while searching through the many pockets of his coat for his keys. "She guards the house."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the boy patting the snakes head and a smile crept onto his face. 

God dammit, he wanted to protect his son now.

Wait- Not his son.

A rammed the key into the lock stronger than strictly necessary and quickly turned it.

He shrugged off his coat and kicked his boots into the small closet by the door.

The boy lingered at the door seemingly unsure whether he should come in or not.

"Come on, I don't bite," he told the boy and waved him inside.

That night the boy slept in his bed and Janus took the couch.  
The house was more than big enough for two people but he only had one bed and didn't want to let a child sleep in the cramped living room.

He decided to take the boy shopping the next day for a bed, clothes and maybe food.  
Who knew what the kid ate and what not.  
If he got the chance he should probably also pick up some book about parenting so he had a chance not to completely screw this up.

The next morning he made toast and scrambled eggs, which the boy both ate, turned the sign hanging in the door to 'Closed' and, for the first time in forever, got the old truck out of the garage.

The boy didn't like the car ride.

He pressed his hands over his ears and whimpered the entire way until Janus pulled into the parking lot of a small store in a tiny town near the forest and bought some earplugs.

The boy still didn't seem thrilled but at least he wasn't close to tears anymore and even managed to relax somewhat.

When Janus parked the car near a shopping mall the boy hopped out after him and hesitantly stayed close to him, sending the parked cars wary glares.

Janus took his hand when they entered the mall but made sure the boy could pull away if he wanted to.

He didn't.

Despite the fact that the boy didn't talk for the entire time, it was fairly easy to tell whether he liked something or not.

He took a liking in dark, heavy clothes but nothing skin tight.  
He liked a size too big but nothing with wide sleeves.

At noon Janus took him to the food court and they ate Chinese. The boy hadn't eaten Chinese before, judging by how he slowly poked it with the sticks, but once he took a bite his eyes lit up and he dug in.

Buying a bed was more of a struggle.

The boy obviously hadn't slept well in Janus' bed and didn't seem to like any of the beds or mattresses in the store.

Janus tried not to let show that he was starting to he was getting frustrated.  
It wasn't really the boy's fault but he was starting to get tired and a woman was starting to eye them weirdly (couldn't she just keep her crooked nose out off his business?).

They left the store when the woman approached them.

Janus tried to recall if there was any other place in the mall where they might get a bed when he felt a pull on his hand.  
The boy had stopped.

He turned around confused.

The boy was starring through the window of a shop for garden furniture. Or to be more specific, he was starring at a hammock.

"Do you want that?," Janus asked watching the boy's face closely.

His eyes lit up.

"To sleep in it?"

A nod.

"Alright, then let's take a closer look, shall we?"

They ended up buying a different hammock, a smaller one that could fit inside one of the many rooms of Janus' house.

For the ride home the boy used the earplugs again and Janus noticed him bouncing his leg a little.

He considered that a win.

That night he slept in his own bed again and the boy slept in his hammock in the small room down the hall, that had never had a use before.  
It was the one with a view into the forest, which the boy seemed to like.

The following week was interesting, to say the least.

He kept learning new things about the boy and tried to teach him things in return.

When Mayor Barnes came in to get his monthly pound of Tinberries, he showed the boy the difference between them and Litteberries and told him about their different uses.

He showed him how to make a Luck potion when a group of teenagers came and asked for something to help them get through exams.

And when Madame Fisher loudly called the boy 'a cursed child' he showed him how to make a voodoo doll and how to use it.

After about two weeks the boy came up to him while he was cooking dinner. Simple spaghetti with meatballs, because cooking had never been his strong suit.

He felt the boy tugged on his sleeve.

"Hi, there. Do you need help with anything?", he asked.

The boy shook his head and pulled on his sleeve again.

He leaned down.

The boy leaned in close.

"Vi," he whispered into Janus' ear.

The mage blinked in suprise.   
It was the first time he had heard the boy talk, part of him had even begun to assume that he was mute.

"What?"

"I'm Vi."

"Is that your name?", a mix of disbelief and happiness spread in his chest.

The boy shook his head slightly.

"Not complete," he frowned.

"Thanks for telling me," Janus smiled.

"I don't know my name," the boy told him with a frown.

"That's okay. We can try to figure it out together, okay?"

Vi nodded.

Janus pulled him into a hug.

My son, a voice at the back of his head declared and this time he didn't argue.

And, by everything holy in the world, he'd be damned if he let anything bad happen to Vi.


	3. It won't recover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Major Character Death
> 
> Chapter title is from Call them Brothers by Regina Spektor.

"Aunt Susanna! Remus is eating my toothpaste again!"

Susanna jumped and sighed loud enough that she was sure both boys could hear her.

"Remus, stop eating toothpaste and please just use it to brush your teeth! We have to go in a few minutes if you want to be there on time!", she yelled.

Roman gave his twin brother a triumphant smirk.

Remus just stuck out his toothpaste covered tongue.

Roman spit into the sink and dashed down the stairs. Like hell, he was going to be late on his first day of school.

He grabbed his backpack, slung it over his shoulder and pulled on his shoes. He still had some trouble tying them but he was getting better.

"Look at you," Grandpa chuckled. "I can't believe you're already going to school. Soon you'll be off to college, young man!"

Roman laughed.

"Aunt Susanna says it'll be a long time till we go to college."

"To you maybe. But to me, it feels like you just learned how to walk yesterday."

Roman gave his Grandpa a disbelieving look.

"How can that have been yesterday? I'm six! You told me I started walking with two!" he protested.

Grandpa smiled and ruffled his hair.

"When you're as old as me the years become shorter."

Roman was about to ask how years could possibly become shorter but Remus came barreling down the stairs and crashed into the wall.

"Ouch," he rubbed his nose. "I'm fine!"

Aunt Susanna came out of the living room.

"What broke?" she asked with a sigh.

"Nothing, don't worry," Grandpa chuckled.

"Alright then, you boys ready?" she asked still in that voice that told Roman that she wasn't happy but would take it out on her work later.

Roman and Remus raced each other out to the car and climbed in as soon as Aunt Susanna opened it.

"Have fun, boys! Try not to get in trouble!" Grandpa called from the door, waving at them.

"Will do!" Roman yelled back.

"We'll try!" Remus yelled at the same time.

Aunt Susanna started the car: "If I get a call from the principal today because either of you couldn't behave himself you're both grounded for the rest of the week."

"What? That's not fair!" Roman complained.

Aunt Susanna said something under her breath but Roman couldn't understand what it was over the sound of the engine and branches cracking under the wheels.

The paths on the property were lined by apple trees that according to Grandpa had been there for about as long as the fae had been in the forest. Roman wasn't sure how long that was but it sounded very very long. As far as he knew the fae had always been there.

\---

It took Roman about half a year to fully understand that school wasn't nearly as interesting as he had expected.

Sure, he learnt things but they also made him _sit still_ for _hours_. He had no idea how they could expect that. Sitting still for the entire car ride to school was already painful enough and that wasn't nearly as long as a lesson.

Remus shared his opinion but was louder about it. So they didn't let Remus go outside for breaks.  
Roman felt sorry for him and wondered when the teachers would understand that that wouldn't help in the least.

They didn't though so Roman had to find others to play with while Remus stayed inside.

The problem was that most other kids didn't seem to like him very much. They didn't like his ideas, said he was too loud or didn't say anything until one day Roman's seat was taken by someone else and suddenly he couldn't play with them anymore.

It took Roman about two years to understand that school sucked.

He wasn't even the only one in his grade nobody wanted to play with.

There was the Changeling boy and the girl that everyone claimed was secretly a mermaid because she always smelled like fish and the Changeling's friend.

Nobody wanted to sit with them, so in Roman's mind it made only sense that they should sit together.

When he took a seat across from the Changeling and his friends they looked at him like he had grown a second head but he tried to ignore that.

"Hi, I'm Roman," he held out his hand.

"Uh... Hi," the Changeling stared at his hand with either confusion or disgust or maybe like he was expecting it to bite him.

"Nice to meet you, Roman," the other one forced a smile.

Roman dropped his hand awkwardly.

"So, what are your names?" he prompted.

He didn't get an answer, only a few incoherent mumbles.  
He didn't try to sit with them again.

The Changeling was Logan and his friend Patton as he found out much later from a fifth party.

He tried to tell himself that he wasn't hurt by their behaviour but that was as fruitless as trying to convince the teachers to let Remus out of the classroom during lunchtime.

The mermaid girl threw a glass of water at him before he even got close. He didn't actually get wet but the message was still pretty clear.

It was stupid, in Roman's opinion, that two people sat all alone and two with only each other when they could easily just all sit together. Remus agreed with him when he told him about it later after he was done laughing at him.  
Roman stuck out his tongue at him.

Then the incident happened and it took him exactly the ten seconds it took Aunt Susanna to tell him about it to understand that he should have made less of an effort on people at school and more on spending time with his brother.

The funeral was on a Saturday.

It didn't rain and that seemed wrong somehow. The sun shouldn't shine on funerals.

He had stopped crying, after hours, and now he just felt empty. Empty and small and alone.

Nobody had told him what exactly had happened. They had said that he'd understand when he was older, but he did understand.

He understood perfectly well that his brother was gone.

The same way Mum was gone and would never come back, except that on Mum's funeral they had let him and Remus see her face before they buried her.  
Now they said that he shouldn't see Remus 'like this'.

The Farber brothers had made the coffin and they carried it together. It looked too small between them.

Grandpa had draped his coat over Roman's shoulders. It was heavy and long and he shouldn't be wearing it alone, Grandpa gave them his coat when he and Remus got cold on New year's Eve or Christmas or on really really cold days when the cold crept through the windows and he shouldn't be wearing it alone, it was wrong!

Remus had to grow up with him and become a painter because he wanted to be a painter, and Roman had to go to all his galleries and make fun him, while they both knew that he loved it, and Remus couldn't just go like this! It wasn't fair!

The first shovel of dirt landed on the casket and Roman wanted to scream.

Aunt Susanna let him stay at home the next Monday. He hardly noticed. The weekend was a blur of crying and screaming and hiding under his covers so he didn't have to see Remus' side of the room, that was too empty and too quiet and he was too alone.

But for some reason, the adults insisted that he had to go to school again.  
He didn't bother even pretending like he was paying attention. The spot next to him was too empty and it was too quiet and he was too tired and empty, so maybe the spot and he had more in common than he had initially thought.

Grandpa pulled him into the kitchen a few months later after he had brought home his report card and Roman was fully prepared to be scolded. He knew that his grades were shit.

Instead, Grandpa pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back.

"You know, I miss him too," Grandpa said, "but I think neither your aunt nor I can really understand what you're going through. And I know that you refused the last few times I asked but... would you like to visit his grave with me? I talk to him, so he doesn't get lonely, but I'm afraid my stories are a bit boring. I'm sure he'd like to hear from you again when you're ready."

Roman had avoided the cemetery ever since the funeral. He still would have found the grave easily, even without Grandpa holding his hand tightly.  
Someone had planted flowers on it.

Roman frowned. "Remus doesn't like daffodils," he mumbled. "They make him sneeze and cough."

"I know. Didn't choose them," Grandpa said. "And I'm too old to dig them out."

Roman considered for a moment.

"Do you think I should?" he then asked.

"If anyone saw you it'd be a scandal," Grandpa scratched at his beard, then winked at him. "Though I could tell you when someone's coming."

"What would we even do with them once they're out?" Roman asked.

Grandpa pointed to an elder grave.

"Mrs Turner used to love daffodils. If we were to do that we could give them to her. Her family hadn't planted any for her in years."

"So, she'd be happy about it. And Remus would be happy that they aren't near him anymore," Roman concluded.

" _If_ we were to do something like that, which we of course never would."

When Grandpa and Roman left the cemetery again, hours later, he felt a bit better. And he hoped that Remus and Mrs Turner did as well.

They had to hide their dirty hands from Aunt Susanna until they made it upstairs to the bathroom but that was worth it.

"Remus likes dandelions a lot," Roman told Grandpa while they were scrubbing their hands. "Maybe we can bring him some tomorrow."

He missed the slight smile on Grandpa's face.

"I'm sure we can."

A few weeks later, they were sitting at dinner and again Roman had nearly put out four plates instead of three.

"Someone has been messing with a few graves," Aunt Susanna said. "Mostly with Remus' but Benjamin Turner and Charlotte Wickins said that their family's graves were messed with too."

Roman nearly choked on his noodles.

"Really?" Grandpa asked. "Why would someone do that? Don't people have respect for the deceased anymore?"

He scoffed and shook his head and Roman nearly believed him, despite knowing the truth.

"Apparently not," Aunt Susanna continued. "All the daffodils were removed!"

Grandpa shot Roman a quick from across the table.

Roman smiled back.

And even though it was a sad smile and didn't quite reach his eyes, it was a start.


	4. As quiet as a mouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from Everything at Once by Lenka.

Patton's favourite place in the whole wide world was the little pond behind Paé's house.  
There was a slim bridge leading over it even if it really didn't take all that long to walk around it and in summer Patton got to swim in it, but the best thing was the frogs.

One time Patton had even managed to catch one between his hands, gently hold it and tell it: "I love you." But not kiss it - Paé had told him not to kiss frogs. 

"But what if there's a prince living in the pond?" Patton had asked.

Paé had laughed. "Then he'll probably tell you and then you can tell me and if I approve of him you can kiss."

So Patton didn't kiss frogs.

He wasn't allowed to kiss cats either but that was because he was allergic.

Still, he had held Mrs Flencher's cat and told her that he loved her. He just had to sneeze afterwards.  
But he had done it and it had been a good decision.  
Cats couldn't be allergic to cats after all.

When he finally went to school Mom had made one rule.

Don't shift in school.

At home, he was still allowed to be whatever he wanted to be but at school, he had to stay human.  
Even when they talked about their favourite animals which wasn't all that nice because Fanny Trudge told him that frogs were disgusting and he couldn't prove her wrong. He couldn't show her how cute frogs were.

Then one of the loud kids, Remus, had said that his favourite animals were roadkill and the entire class had ended in chaos.

However, as Patton grew older he began to understand why he wasn't allowed to shift in school.

There were two not- humans in his year and they were treated like garbage by the other kids.

And while on one hand, Patton wanted to befriend them, on the other he was scared. Partly because it would also make him a target, part because the changeling and the mermaid were kind of scary.

He became friends with Logan more on accident than anything else.

They had to make presentations and the teacher assigned them to work together.

"I can work alone," Logan offered as soon as Patton sat down next to him. He looked nervous.

"Really? How do you know that?," Patton asked and pulled out his pencil. "We haven't had this kind of assignment yet. Maybe it's really hard without a partner."

"I mean...," Logan seemed to be planning out what he would say, "I understand if you don't want to work with me."

Patton looked at him for a moment and wondered if Logan would have said "it's fine" if he could lie.

"Do you like frogs?" he asked.

Logan's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?"

"Do you like frogs?" Patton repeated.

"Well, I guess," Logan shrugged. "I guess they're alright. Some can be quite fascinating. But why does that matter?"

"I love frogs," Patton told him. "And I think nobody who likes frogs can be a bad person. So there's no reason I shouldn't work with you."

"That is a weird philosophy," Logan said and he was probably right. He was almost always right as Patton would learn.

They got an A on their presentation and Patton could tell how proud it made Logan even though he was trying to hide it. 

A week later they met outside of school for the first time and quickly grew close. Despite how different they were they just sorta clicked.

Just by becoming friends with Logan, Patton had pretty much signed up for becoming an outcast.  
He hadn't been aware of how mean other children could be.  
Still, no matter how often Logan offered, he refused to abandon his friend.

Then the death happened and shocked the entire town.

Patton hadn't really known Remus, beyond 'one of my classmates' and 'kinda weird and loud' but in a town as small as theirs it was customary that everyone came to a funeral when there was one.

Mom held his hand, while Paé stood a bit further away. When Patton had asked him why he had just said that he didn't like big human crowds. 

Paé was like Patton, in that he shifted. Mom couldn't shift. 

Patton sometimes wondered what that was like.  
He found it awfully boring to stay human for long, let alone forever.

He still hadn't shown Logan his shifting, he realised and looked around, trying to spot his friend.

Instead he noticed someone by the back.  
The Mage's son.

Patton didn't know his name and the boy didn't even go to school but most people just called him 'that cursed boy' when they gossiped.  
For a cursed person he was very pretty, Patton thought.

Someone in the crowd shifted and blocked Patton's view of the boy.

He tried to get a glimpse of him again but didn't manage to.

He didn't manage to find Logan either but Logan found him once the funeral was over.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the day.

"Lo?" Patton began a few days later while they were sitting on the floor of his room in Mom's house. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure," Logan said and looked up from his crossword puzzle.

"It's a secret, so you can't tell anyone."

That seemed to spark Logan's interest. "I won't."

Patton bit the inside of his cheek and tried to find the right words.

"Maybe I should just show you," he said after a few beats.

"Okay."

Patton took a deep breath and when he opened his eyes again the world was bigger around him.  
He croaked at Logan and hopped closer to him.

"You- You're a frog," Logan stared down at him.

Patton croaked again.

"How are you a frog?!"

Patton turned back into a human shape.

"I don't really know how," he admitted with a shrug. "My Paé can do it too."

"Turn into a frog?" 

"No, turn into things he loves," Payton smiled.

Logan frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"I have to tell an animal that I love it and mean it before I can take its shape! I also have to hold it. That's why I haven't been able to turn into a fish yet. They're too fast and slippery for me."

"I see," Logan said. "That's... fascinating."

There was something shining in his eyes and Patton couldn't help but feel proud that he had put that sparkle there.  
He also felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

He started to shift more often around Logan and slowly noticed Logan being less ashamed of his own inhuman traits when it was just the two of them.  
It was nice.


	5. I think you're my best friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from The Kids Aren't Alright by Fall Out Boy
> 
> (Would you look at that, me, updating this fic. A miracle...)

"We have a new student this year," Mr Wickins announced as if no one had noticed the new kid awkwardly standing next to him. "Don't you want to introduce yourself?"

The new boy seemed to think for a moment before he quietly answered: "Nah."

Logan wondered if he was aware that technically he had agreed to introduce himself based on how Mr Wickins had worded his question.  
Usually, he would have asked Patton but Patton wasn't there today.  
Mr Wickins had said that he was sick today. Patton was sick a lot, as far as Logan could tell. 

Even though the boy didn't introduce himself, everyone knew who he was.  
He was the kid that had shown up a few years ago and had been adopted by the Mage. 

Mr Wickins had him sit next to Logan and shut down Logan's protest that that was Patton's seat, saying that 'a new student shouldn't sit alone'. Logan was pretty sure that he just wanted the 'freaks' in one place so he could glare at them with minimum effort.

"Salutations," Logan said to the boy and bit his tongue. Bad move. He had been made fun of for saying 'Salutations' before. And even if he didn't understand why he was pretty sure that it had just ruined whatever minuscule chance he had had to create a connection.

"Hello?" the other said, making the word sound like a question.

Or maybe Logan still had a slim chance.

"You may call me Logan," he introduced himself and offered his hand.

The boy hesitantly shook it.

"Hello, Logan," he said. The name sounded weird when he said it but Logan couldn't place why. "You- You can call me V."

"V?" Logan asked and tried to hide his disappointment. Of course, V wouldn't tell him his actual name. He wasn't sure what he had expected.

"Yeah. I lost my full name," V said and glanced up at the blackboard.

"What do you mean by that?" Logan asked with a frown.

"I lost my name. I don't remember where I last had it or how long ago I lost it but I can't find it. And I can't give you something that I don't have anymore," V murmured. He didn't seem to be one to speak loudly.

Logan guessed that made sense in a weird way. He still wasn't sure _how_ it was possible to lose a name but maybe it had something to do with V's appearance by the cemetery.

They didn't talk for the rest of the lesson but Mr Wickins still glared at them from time to time.

"School is weird," V told him as soon as the class was over.

"That's likely because the current school system is based on tradition and capitalism. Not what scientists say would be best," Logan explained heading for his locker. "Which is also why school can be so damaging for students."

\---

Logan didn't see V again until lunch break.

V sat down across from him with a plate of french fries even if he seemed nervous about it.

Logan had his own food that Momma had made for him because of salt and red berries and everything else he couldn't eat thanks to his physiology.

He explained so when V asked after half an hour of silence between them.  
V nodded in acknowledgement and poked at his fries with his fork.

\---

After a few days Patton came back to school.

"I just had a bad cold," he explained. And later when it was just the two of them he added: "I sometimes accidentally shift when I sneeze. Mom didn't want anything to happen."

Logan could understand that all too well. Patton was already getting bullied simply for being friends with him and even though he pretended not to be bothered by it Logan could tell that it hurt him.  
If there was another reason to bully him... Logan didn't want to think about it.

Humans could be incredibly cruel. Even to their own kind.

"Did I miss anything?" Patton asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Kelly Brook and Chase Weatherall got into a fistfight two days ago and Chase broke Kelly's nose," Logan recounted. "There are a few rumours why, but I don't know much about it. Oscar Dimitri apparently managed to impersonate a substitute for two hours. And they now sell pancakes in the cafeteria for three dollars each. Oh, and the Mage's son is in our homeroom now."

Patton's eyes were wide.

"Gee, as soon as I'm gone everything happens," he breathed. "If I'd stayed home today, maybe Dolly Parton would have preformed during math class!"

"That is highly unlikely for multiple reasons," Logan said.

"It was a joke, Lo," Patton smiled up at him.

"Oh, apologies."

He bit his lip as they entered the cafeteria.

"You don't have to apologize," Patton said and went to the line to get himself something to eat while Logan waited for him like he always did. It felt good to get back to his usual routine.

Looking around the cafeteria he noticed that V was sitting at their table.

He supposed that made sense.

V had sat there with him for the entire time Patton had been sick so there was no reason he shouldn't today.

But it threw off the routine.

"I'm back!" Patton announced, carrying a tray with food. "Is something wrong?" he asked immediately. Sometimes Logan wondered how Patton managed to read him so well.

"I uhm... I sort of bonded with the Mage's son, V. Or at least we made a truce. So... He's sitting at our table," Logan said lamely.

Patton looked to where he was pointing.

"Is he... Is he nice?" he asked after a short pause.

Logan shrugged. "Mostly quiet. But he seemed alright when we talked."

Patton nodded slowly.

"Then let's go, shall we?"

V barely looked up from his noodles. 

"Hi, I'm Patton," Patton said and sat down.

"V," said V quietly with a curt nod.

Logan sat down next to Patton, across from V and pulled out his lunch.

Something was off today, though he couldn't place his finger on _what_.

He noticed how Patton kept glancing over at V and V kept looking to the side with an annoyed look on his face as if someone next to him was bothering him.  
There was no one there though.

Logan decided to ignore it. He himself had a lot of seemingly weird behaviours. It wasn't his business to judge somebody for theirs.

The three of them ate in silence and while Logan didn't mind, he could tell that it made Patton antsy.

"Is your dad really a mage?" Patton finally broke the silence.

V looked up. "He's a witch. A mage is something else." 

"What's the difference?"

"He told me witchcraft or magick is the worship of nature, magic is spitting it in the face," V said, stuffed a noodle into his mouth and continued. "He doesn't like mages."

"I see," Patton poked at something on his plate that looked similar to a tomato.

Sometimes Logan was glad that he didn't have to eat the school lunch. It didn't always look edible at all.

Both Patton and V dumped most of their food into the trash cans.

"He's very pretty," Patton said later as they were walking to class.

Logan hummed in thought.

He wasn't sure. To him, Patton was prettier but that wasn't something he could just say aloud.

"I guess he is," he said instead.

\---

The week went on, Logan got detention for correcting one of the teachers three times, which was stupid because he had been in the right and V continued sitting at their table during lunch.

Logan complained about the unjust detention as he and Patton sat down, the shifter offering to stay after school so he wouldn't have to be alone before popping a fry into his mouth.

Logan just shook his head.

Still angry he unpacked his sandwich. He hadn't had much time this morning so it was just one small one and it didn't help his mood.

He noticed V staring at it.

"What?" Logan asked harsher than he had meant to.

V flinched and glanced to the side before answering.

"They don't salt them," he said.

Logan blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"The fries. They don't salt them. Apparently it's too expensive. Instead, they dump all their salt into the sausages on Tuesdays. That's why nobody likes them and they land in the trash."

"I- What? Why are you telling me this?"

"The salt is why you can't eat it, right?" V looked like he was wishing for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. "I just thought, if you're still hungry after the sandwich..."

He stopped, glanced down at his food and without another word stood up and ran.

Logan watched him leave the cafeteria aghast.

"That was... weird," Patton said after a beat.

Logan only nodded in agreement.

V didn't sit at their table again after that. But whenever Logan saw him he seemed to be talking to the air.

The school year ended as the heat of summer became more and more unbearable and like the summer before and the one before that, Logan and Patton would spend it together.

Just the two of them, doing their best to not fall victim to their bored peers' 'pranks' and enjoy themselves until they had to go back to school.

Logan wasn't entirely sure why Patton wanted him there when he visited his grandmother's grave. Logan had never met her and he didn't really get why Patton talked to the gravestone but he came along anyway.

In the distance he could faintly hear a commotion on the market in the town centre.

He did his best to ignore it and focus on Patton instead.

"- and I also managed to catch a squirrel!" the boy recounted excitedly. "I can turn into a squirrel now! It's fun to climb up trees like that! A bit exhausting but really fun!"

Logan noticed that he had begun to smile a little.

Patton's smile was bright and warm as if he was trying to put the sun out of business and even when it wasn't directed at him Logan couldn't help but smile back.

He really was in love wasn't he?

That wasn't a problem.

He'd just make sure Patton never found out.

As long as he could stay by Patton's side he was happy.

No problem.

He never tried to say that out loud. He was too afraid he wouldn't be able to.


	6. Those are my people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from Trash People by Cherry Glazerr

He slid through the window, past the curtains into the room.  
The only light source was what little full moon light managed to creep in.

Still he could make out everything without a problem. 

He soundlessly reached the bed and hovered over the figure lying in it for a few seconds.

Roman looked like he was having a bad dream. He still hadn't cut his hair and the ends were splitting a little.  
He looked almost sick.

Carefully he reached out and managed to push a lock of Roman's hair out of his face.

Then he stood straight again, still hovering a few feet over the floor and moved as if to jump into a pool. He jumped and slipped into Roman's dream with ease.

He streched and looked around the dream.

School.

Yuck.

It wasn't like he didn't see enough of this fucking place every day.

Roman sat next to him, writing something in his notebook that most definitely wasn't the assignment. He looked healthier here. Less pale.

"Are you writing a story?" he whispered.

Roman jumped and swirled around.

"Remus?" he then asked confused.

"Yeah? Come on, what are you writing?"

"I er- It's nothing," Roman covered it with his hand.

"Aww, come on!" Remus pouted. "Won't you show your favouritistest brother in the world?"

He blinked rapidly as if fighting back tears and Roman snickered slightly.

"It's just a story idea," he finally said.

"Can I see?"

Roman glanced up at the blackboard where a teacher with a blurry face was talking but it sounded muted and static like. Not that Roman was really aware of that.

"Maybe after class," he said. 

Remus rolled his eyes.

The class could either be over in seconds or take hours. One of the problems with dreams.  
But maybe he could make it more interesting. Just add a teeny tiny twist so he wouldn't have to sit through the whole lesson.

He looked around the room a little. A moving frog autonomy poster caught his attention and he smirked.  
Perfect.

With a huge boom the walls disappeared, leaving only burning ruins behind.

On the school yard stood a giant muscled frog in ripped clothes.

It flexed it's muscles and let out a scream Remus had heard in some movie, either Godzilla or Jurassic Park, he wasn't sure anymore, and decided he liked.

Around them the class panicked.

"Oh no!" Remus called, not really bothering to sound convincing. "We have to protect everyone!"

He knew his brother. Roman couldn't resist an opportunity to be the hero.

Just as he had expected Roman pulled out a sword, not even questioning where it'd come from. He was still too caught up in the dream.

Remus summoned a mace for himself and grinned.

This would be a lot more fun.

The frog opened its mouth and fired a ball of energy at them.

The twins rolled out of the way and attacked together.

Remus laughed excitedly. 

There were no veins in him for adrenaline to rush through anymore but he still felt it somehow.

They defeated the frog quickly - or perhaps it had been a few hours, dreams were tricky in that way - and Roman grinned at Remus, his face covered in dirt and sweat.

Remus grinned back.

"Good work," he said. "This is why you're my favourite brother!"

Roman chuckled.

"I'm your only brother!"

By blood maybe, Remus thought but didn't say aloud. This was Roman's dream. In here Remus was alive. Which in turn meant he'd never gotten adopted and only had one brother.

Remus was about to open his mouth to suggest something else they could do when a shrill noise cut through the air and he was catapulted out of the dream.

It took him a moment to stable himself and reorient himself.

Roman tiredly hit his alarm clock that had interrupted the dream and groaned into his pillow.

Slowly he got up and Remus followed him to the bathroom and watched him get ready for a while.  
Out here in the real world Roman couldn't see or hear him.

Remus wasn't sure if he liked that or not.

On one hand he wanted to talk to his brother and bully him into getting his shit together and get over his death, on the other hand Remus knew that Roman would feel guilty if he found out that Remus was stuck, even if it probably had everything to do with the fact that his death had been brutal and nothing to do with his brother.

With a sigh Remus slipped through the wall and let the breeze carry him over the rooftops and through a few buildings until he got back home.

He sunk in through the roof and held his nonexistent breath as he slowly approached the man at the stove, without a single sound.

Maybe it was a weird ghost instinct, maybe it was just how he was, but he couldn't resist causing a little mischief.

"Good morning, Remus," Janus said, without looking up from the stove, just as Remus was about to scare him.

"How did you know I was here?" he complained.

"I'm your father. It's my job. How were Roman's dreams?"

"Boring. So I made them interesting."

"You didn't give him nightmares, did you?" Janus raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Nah, don't worry. I just made them fun! We fought a monster frog together!"

"Did you win?" Janus asked.

"Of course!"

"That's my boy."

Remus watched him cook for a while, occasionally letting spoons or a knife levitate before Janus picked them out of the air and put them down again.

"Why isn't Vi getting up?" Remus asked after a while looking around for his adoptive brother. "School starts soon."

"Last night was full moon. A bad one. I called the school and told them he was sick."

"Oh, I see."

"For the record, that doesn't mean that you'll be staying home," Janus said before Remus could ask.

The ghost groaned and let himself fall back in the air.

"Do I have to?" he whined.

"Education is important, Remus! I'm not letting you stay uneducated just because you're dead!" Janus declared, the same way he always did. "Now go, or you'll be late."

Remus glared at him for a moment.

"Fine!" he finally gave in and turned to leave.

"Have a nice day," Janus told him. "Love you."

"Love you too or whatever, Dad," Remus called over his shoulder and slipped through the closed window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn I thought I had uploaded this already. Sorry.


	7. Trouble finds me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from Roots by Imagine Dragons.
> 
> This chapter gives some context to why Logan heard noise by the end of I think you're my best friend.
> 
> Warning: mild panik attack

The market was full as always and for once Vi was glad that Remus wouldn't leave his side.  
It gave him a little bit of security to have someone by his side.

Dad was getting eggs and some other stuff but by the stalls it was even busier so Vi preferred to stay by the witches fountain and play with his stress ball.

Remus sat on top of the collum and loudly sang one dirty song after the other, which he'd definitely have to take over more chores for later, occasionally stopping to comment on something that was happening around them.

"Wait, why is Janine coming over to us?" he asked just after the second chorus.

Vi looked up.

Janine came to a stop next to him.

He wished she'd leave.

"Hi," she said, not leaving.

"Hi," he answered because that was what he was supposed to do when someone came and greeted him.

Especially someone he knew. Janine and he had been forced to work together for a project over the last week.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked.

"Waiting for my dad."

She nodded and glanced off to the side nervously.

"I wanted to tell you something," she then said, scraping the dirt with her shoe.

Vi didn't ask what it was. She'd tell him anyway and he didn't actually want to know.

"I think I like you," Janine blushed. "Like, like-like you."

She glanced up at him through her lashes.

Remus cackled.

That wasn't helpful. Because Vi had no idea what to do now. He knew he should do something - maybe run away? - but he didn't know what.  
He wasn't sure what to say either.  
What was one to say in a situation like this?

"Kiss her," Remus suggested unprompted, still laughing.

Listening to Remus was almost always a bad idea. Even more so when he was laughing.

But Vi was stressed, panicking and desperate for any for of guidance.

Quickly he leaned forward and pressed a peck against Janine's cheek.

He flinched back when she let out a scream.

Eyes snapped over to them, the market growing quiet untill all there was were a few whispers and Janine's whimpers.

She was clutching her cheek as if he'd hit her.

"The hell?" Remus muttered.

In that moment Janine's mother burst through the crowd.

"Baby girl, what's wrong? What happened?" she cradled her daughter, shooting an accusing glare at Vi. "Let mommy see."

She gently pulled Janine's hand away from her face and froze.

Vi tensed.

In the exact spot where he'd pecked her, just a little under her eye, was a dark - or maybe even black - imprint. Of lips. His lips.

He felt sick.

Her mother's eyes landed on him. 

There was so much hate in them he feared he might choke on it.

Then Dad was there, shielding him from those hateful eyes with his coat.

He burrowed against Dad's chest and tried not to cry.

People began to scream around him.

Vi pressed his eyes shut.

Dad's hands came up to cover his ears, muffling the yelling slightly.

He felt himself being guided away somewhere. Away, he hoped. He only wanted away.

The screaming died down, or maybe became further away and Dad lowered his hands again.

"Vi?" he asked. "Can you hear me?"

Vi nodded, still not opening his eyes.

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to breathe with me. Do you think you can do that? In for four, hold for six and breathe out for eight seconds, remember?"

He nodded.

"Okay. Let's try it. In, one, two- That's okay, let's try again, one, two, three, four. Good. Now hold, one, two, three, four, five, six. Very good. And out. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good job. Do you want to repeat it?"

Vi counted on his fingers this time and once he was done slowly opened his eyes again.

Dad was kneeling in front of him. They were almost at home now.

"Feeling any better?" Dad asked.

Vi nodded. He didn't feel up to talking.

"Can't talk right now? That's okay. Let's go home, okay?"

He nodded again.

"Is it okay if I pick you up?"

Vi thought for a moment then nodded.

"If you want down just tap my shoulder twice," Dad pulled him up as he stood up and began walking towards the house.

Remus hovered over them.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I shouldn't have told you to do that."

Vi wanted to let him know that it wasn't his fault but didn't know how to without words. Dad had begun to find sign language lessons online for when he couldn't talk but he couldn't remember most of the signs at the moment. He didn't know that many yet in the first place.

Dad shifted his hold on him to fish out his keys and open the door.  
He put down the basket in the hallway, kicked off his shoes, carrying Vi on into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Do you want some water, stormcloud?"

Vi nodded again. Carefully he put his hand up and folded in his pointer, middle and ring finger and stretching his thumb and pinkie - Y.  
Then he pulled in his thumb and the other fingers a little - E.  
Lastly he pulled his fingers in further, letting his thumb rest on top - S.

Dad smiled proudly.

"Remus, can you go get a glass, please?"

"Sure."

"Thank you."

A moment later Remus was back, a glass levitating in the air next to him. Gently it floated over to Vi and he picked it out of the air.

Fingers resting against his palm, thumb between pointer and middle finger - T.  
Hand tilted to the side pointer and middle finger extended - H.  
Fingers against palm, thumb relaxed - A.  
Thumb now between middle and ring finger - N.

He hesitated trying to remember the K.

Hesitantly he lifted his pointer finger and half raised his middle finger, leaning his thumb against it.

Dad nodded.

And lastly a fist with his thumbs over his fingers again - S.

"You're welcome," Remus said after a short moment of puzzling the signs together in his mind.

Vi took a sip of his water and leaned against Dad's chest.

"Are you okay with Remus telling me what happened?" Dad asked when he was done, taking the now empty glass and settings it on the table.

Y - E - S.

Remus launched into an explanation and Vi pulled out his stim toy again, nervously squishing it.

Dad gently rubbed his back.

"I see," he nodded when Remus was done. "Did it hurt you, shadowling?"

Loose fist, thumb between middle and ring finger - N.  
Circle - O.

"That's good. Do you have any idea what happened?"

N - O.

N - O - T H - U - M - A - N.

He pointed at himself.

He didn't want Dad to think of him as cursed. In the village they called him cursed all the time but he didn't even want it to cross Dad's mind.

Apparently not, no," Dad pushed a strand out of his face. "You're something better. Humans are awful."

'True," Remus nodded.

Vi managed a small smile.

"Do you feel up to eating something? I could reheat the soup from yesterday if you want me to."

Vi contemplated for a moment. Then he nodded.

Do you want to wait here, in your room or in the kitchen?" Dad raised a finger for each option.

Vi tapped the 'here' finger.

"Okay. I'll get you your blanket quickly and then I'll get the soup."

Dad set him down, ruffling his hair and left the living room.  
A moment later he was back with Vi's heavy blanket, wrapped it around him gently, ruffled his hair once more and went to the kitchen.

Remus hovered over the couch next to him.

"Do you want me to haunt her house tonight? Or her mum? She was really mean to you," he offered. 

Vi shook his head.

"You sure?"

He nodded.

"Okay, if you change your mind just let me know."

Vi smiled at him and burrowed deeper under his blanket.


End file.
